January 2015

Mobile Industry Generated $3.3 Trillion in 2014, Created 11 Million Jobs

A Boston Consulting Group study finds that the mobile industry in 2014 produced more than $3.3 trillion in revenue. That breaks down to more than $400 for every man, woman and child on earth. So everyone must be feeling a little wealthier, right? Well, no. It turns out the mobile revolution is still benefitting some more than others, with a lot of that money going to the giants of the industry, like Apple and Qualcomm. Six of the 25 most valuable companies in the world, BCG says, are companies directly making money from mobile technology: Apple, Google, China Mobile, Alibaba, Facebook and Verizon.

NTIA Urges FCC to Lift Bans on Community Broadband

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, Lawrence Strickling of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration wrote, “Working with existing service providers is often a very strong option for communities. But in cases where existing providers are not meeting a community's needs, the community should have the flexibility to explore other options, including various types of public-private partnerships or municipal broadband. One such option is for communities to build and operate their own broadband infrastructure. This choice is certainly not always, or even typically, the best solution for a community, particularly where existing service providers are willing and able to meet communities' evolving needs. But allowing communities to consider and leverage a full range of options allows for communities to most efficiently and successfully meet the needs of their citizens. Such flexibility should be encouraged, not limited…. The Administration urges the FCC to ensure that communities have the tools necessary to satisfy their citizens' demand for broadband.”

Does the US government really want to get into the broadband business?

[Commentary] The White House isn’t really expecting municipal Internet to make a major dent the market share of existing cable providers. As with the short-lived “public option” for health insurance before it was cut from President Barack Obama’s health care proposal, the idea here -- and on a much smaller scale -- is to hold telecoms’ feet to the fire by providing a baseline level of service. And the cable industry’s unease suggests that this would be the exact result. While government-run networks might not be the ultimate solution to providing better broadband service, it’s worth seeing if open access to publicly-financed local networks can be.

Is public broadband a threat to taxpayers? Let towns decide

[Commentary] A casual observer might think towns across the country are contemplating Communism, rather than construction projects. Such is the state of the national debate over how to build more high speed Internet, which is becoming as indispensable to modern life as hot water or electricity.

The underlying argument from groups with names like the Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance is that city-run Internet will inevitably turn into an expensive failure, and that state laws that limit municipal broadband projects (either through outright bans or cumbersome procedural rules) amount to a sensible shield for consumers against government boondoggles. The upshot is that there doesn’t appear to be an over-arching economic case one way or the other as to whether cities should supply broadband in the same way they do sewers or electricity. The problem is that municipal voters in many states don’t get a choice to decide in the first place. As Harold Feld, a senior lawyer with advocacy group Public Knowledge notes, this situation bodes poorly not only for the push for more broadband, but for basic American principles of self-governance as well.

Why the Government should provide Internet access

A Q and A with Susan Crawford, author of "The Responsive City".

Crawford said that we need a public option for Internet access because Internet access is just like electricity or a road grid. This is something that the private market doesn't provide left to its own devices. What they'll do is systematically provide extraordinarily expensive services for the richest people in America, leave out a huge percentage of the population and, in general, try to make their own profits at the expense of social good. So just as we have a postal service that's a public option for communications in the form of mail, we also need public options in every city for very high-capacity, very high-speed fiber internet access. That way we'll make sure and we can compete with every other nation in the 21st century.

White House says network neutrality legislation not needed

The White House said legislation was not necessary to settle so-called "network neutrality" rules because the Federal Communications Commission had the authority to write them.

The Obama Administration's comments, while not entirely rebuffing the Congressional Republican legislative effort, could make some Democrats wary of joining it. "In terms of legislation, we don’t believe it’s necessary given that the FCC has the authorities that it needs under Title II," a White House spokesperson said. "However, we always remain open to working with anyone who shares the president's goal of fully preserving a free and open internet now and into the future."

Health IT Groups Tell FCC They're Concerned About Title II

Health information technology companies warned against the Federal Communications Commission applying any more network neutrality regulations, especially under Title II, to wireless broadband.

In a letter to the FCC Chairman and Commissioners, the heads of the Health IT Now Coalition, M-Health Regulatory Coalition, and Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance suggested that applying those regulations could hurt mobile health products and services, which it points out is important to serving underserved medical populations with affordable health care. They argue that the field is new and developing and that additional limitations on mobile could inhibit investment and innovation. "Regulatory and economic factors dictate against the imposition of a one-size-fits-all Title II common carrier regime on competitive and diverse mobile broadband services," they said.

Public Knowledge Urges FCC to Address Privacy Concerns with E911 Rules

Public Knowledge and 16 other organizations sent a letter to the Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission urging them to consider and resolve privacy concerns when they vote on “E911” wireless location accuracy later in January. Despite privacy concerns, the letter we submitted to the FCC Commissioners still encourages them to implement strong wireless location accuracy rules, but also asks them to consider and address the privacy implications of these rules before new technology is implemented.

We urge the FCC to require multiple privacy protections, including:

A mechanism whereby owners of wireless consumer home products are able to opt out of having their devices included in the National Emergency Address Database.
A system design in which E911 location functionality can only be triggered through the handset, and not remotely.
Assurance that technologies designed to comply with E911 requirements will not be made available to third parties without consumers’ express opt-in consent.
Assurance that consumers will be able to turn location services on or off via a global setting on their mobile device, as well as grant or deny access to location services to each application.
Assurance that information gathered from E911 technologies are not used by or disseminated to third parties, including government entities.

FCC poised to open the floodgates for "wrong number" robocalls to cell phones

More than 75 national and state civil rights, community, and consumer groups sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging the FCC to keep important consumer and privacy protections for cell phone users. Companies can and should use technology to determine whether cell phone numbers were transferred to new users. Instead, they want the right to continue robocalling wrong numbers. National Association of Consumer Advocates Legislative

TV Use Overtakes Radio in Afghanistan

Research data from the Broadcasting Board of Governors and Gallup shows that the media market in Afghanistan is primarily split between radio and television.

While Afghanistan remains one of the few media markets in which shortwave radio use is still in the double digits, presenters at a research briefing showed that TV use is overtaking radio for the first time in the country. “Viewership rates are particularly high in the northern part of Afghanistan, where the electricity supply is more reliable, and drop off in the south where we see more Taliban activity,” said Paul Tibbitts, Director of Market Insight and Evaluation at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. TV usage has nearly doubled since 2008, with current weekly viewership at 64 percent of the total population.

Benton

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